Laughter
by Fullmetal Ai
Summary: Ran Fan' He said excitedly as he took her arm and pulled her down so that she was sitting beside him. 'Look! Read This! Isn't this interesting' [LingRanFan][Childhood]


**A/N:** So, yeah. :3 I've been meaning to do a fanfiction for Ling and Ran Fan for quite a while, however, the oppertunity to do one never really came to me .. until now. Caitlin Glass is holding a fanfiction and fanart contest for Valentine's Day, and I thought "sure, why not?" So, I'm doing it. I think. Maybe. Yeah. xD Yeah, I'll do it. Hopefully I can get them in character!

**Laughter  
****By: Fullmetal Ai (aiyia; flyingpomato)  
****Made for Caitlin's Valentine's Day Challenge**

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"Ran Fan! Ran Fan, Come Look!" The cheerful voice of a young male, possibly no older than ten or eleven, called to a shy girl around the same age. Ran Fan looked up at the voice of the boy, and, a small smile on her face, and quickly walked over.

"Yes, Young Master?" She asked, her voice soft and somewhat hesitant; she had only recently been assigned to look after the young boy, one of the potential candidates of becoming King of Xing. She couldn't help but feel her own smile widen just a tiny bit as she looked to the boy's face, lit up with a grin.

"Ran Fan!" He said excitedly as he took her arm and pulled her down so that she was sitting beside him. "Look! Read This! Isn't this interesting?" Ran Fan looked curiously at the book in the young Prince's hand.

"Young Master, that's not a book about the-"

"Read it, Ran Fan! Read it!" He said, not being able to hide the laughter in his voice. "Read from that paragraph .." He said as he indicated which one with his pointer finger, "To the end of that paragraph." Ran Fan nodded gently as she lowered her head and began reading, her eyes slowly widening with growing interest.

"You see? This is so much more interesting than the _normal_ lessons!" The young prince said with a laugh. "When I become King, we're going to celebrate this holiday! This will be one day full of love and laughter and joy!" He beamed proudly at the statement.

"Yes, Young Master." Ran Fan said, stifling a giggle at her master's actions. The boy looked to her with a frown.

"Ran Fan, what have I told you about calling me 'Young Master'? Ling will do just fine." Ran Fan looked to Ling, eyes widening for a moment more as the information sunk in for the fifteenth time since she had been assigned to watch him.

"Yes, Young Ma-- I mean, Ling." Ling grinned.

"Formality is not required in my presence. However .. You take my _father_. Man, does he have his way with his servants!" Ling said, belting out a laugh at his own statement. Again, Ran Fan stifled a laugh, a small amount of redness making it's way to her cheeks as she accidenally snorted while stifling her laugh. Ling looked to Ran Fan, a sly grin on his face making a silent statement of 'I caught you.'

"Ran Fan, it's okay to laugh. If you never show any emotion, I can't have fun with you!" Ling said, his grin growing wider. Ran Fan cast her gaze downward. Ling crossed his arms, pouting a little bit. Suddenly, it seemed as if a lightbulb had gone off in her head, and he looked to Ran Fan, then to his book, then back to Ran Fan. Another grin suddenly replaced the frown.

"Ran Fan, I'm going to go do something on my own. You can go occupy yourself until I'm finished, right?" Ling asked, as innocently as he possibly could. Ran Fan nodded and stood, bowing quickly as she ran off to do something else. Ling looked after her as she left, then, making sure that she wasn't anywhere that she could secretly watch him, he ran quickly and retrieved some paper and a quill, grinning to himself the entire time.

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Ran Fan hadn't been called back to Ling's side for the remainder of the day, and it worried the young girl. She eventually worried herself to sleep, and woke up the next day, determined to find out if her young master was all right. She stepped out of her makeshift bed, rushing to dress herself and seek out the young prince, however, something out of the corner of her eye stopped her. Ran Fan looked with suspicion toward a piece of paper lying on a box that was in the room, normally used to place things upon. She walked over to the box, carefully lifting the paper and looking to what was written on there. Her eyes widened, and she didn't bother to stifle her gasp as she did so. Inscribed upon the paper was a big, black and white heart, the date inscribed being 2-14. Ran Fan's eyes wandered to the note below, and her smile increased as she read the scratchy handwriting that she had become accustomed to reading over the past few months. 

_Dear Ran Fan,_

_Remember when I said that we would celebrate this holiday when I became King? Well, I'm not King yet, but that dosen't mean we can't celebrate it on our own! You're the only other person besides myself to know about this, so do keep it quiet; wouldn't want Father to find out now, would we? _

Ran Fan giggled a little bit at the comment, before continuing to read.

_I just want you to know, I really like your laugh; that's why I encourage you to laugh so much. You're different from all of the other servants, and I'm really very glad that Father appointed you to look after me (though in all honesty, I don't need looking after. I can do just fine!). Ran Fan, when I become King, you're going to be my queen! I'll make sure of it! Because Kings can do anything they see fit, and though taking a servant as a wife is normally frowned upon, it won't be once I am King. So, as they say in the other countries, Happy Valentine's Day! _

_Love,_

_Ling_

Ran Fan smiled brightly as she read the last of the note. She placed the piece of paper back down onto the box and ran out the door, intent on finding the young prince once more; only now, she wasn't so worried. Eventually she found him, and he looked to her with a bright grin.

"So, I take it you found the note?" He asked, his excitement climbing as Ran Fan nodded with a smile. He acted as if he were wiping sweat from his brow.

"Phew! And I thought it had been eaten by the cows out there!" His grin only grew wider as he heard the most magnificent sound of his entire life.

Ran Fan was laughing happily at his little joke.

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_**End  
2.12.2006**_

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